BISD fails to follow its own budget

By Brooke Crum

Updated 9:04 am, Friday, June 13, 2014

Photo: Jake Daniels

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Members of a student band as well as others gather outside the BISD administration building Thursday afternoon to perform in protest of the proposed staff cuts. The Beaumont Independent School District school board met Thursday night to continue budget discussions as well as review their agenda.
Photo taken Thursday 6/12/14
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Members of a student band as well as others gather outside the BISD administration building Thursday afternoon to perform in protest of the proposed staff cuts. The Beaumont Independent School District school ... more

Photo: Jake Daniels

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Members of the audience give the school board a thumbs down during Thursday evening's meeting. The Beaumont Independent School District school board met Thursday night to continue budget discussions as well as review their agenda.
Photo taken Thursday 6/12/14
Jake Daniels/@JakeD_in_SETX less

Members of the audience give the school board a thumbs down during Thursday evening's meeting. The Beaumont Independent School District school board met Thursday night to continue budget discussions as well as ... more

Photo: Jake Daniels

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Superintendent Dr. Timothy Chargois looks out into the audience as people disagree with his comments regarding vice principals during Thursday evening's school board meeting. The Beaumont Independent School District school board met Thursday night to continue budget discussions as well as review their agenda.
Photo taken Thursday 6/12/14
Jake Daniels/@JakeD_in_SETX less

Superintendent Dr. Timothy Chargois looks out into the audience as people disagree with his comments regarding vice principals during Thursday evening's school board meeting. The Beaumont Independent School ... more

Photo: Jake Daniels

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Conservator Fred Shafer listens in on Thursday evening's school board meeting. The Beaumont Independent School District school board met Thursday night to continue budget discussions as well as review their agenda.
Photo taken Thursday 6/12/14
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Conservator Fred Shafer listens in on Thursday evening's school board meeting. The Beaumont Independent School District school board met Thursday night to continue budget discussions as well as review their ... more

Photo: Jake Daniels

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President Gwen Ambres listens to a question from trustee Woodrow Reece during Thursday evening's school board meeting. The Beaumont Independent School District school board met Thursday night to continue budget discussions as well as review their agenda.
Photo taken Thursday 6/12/14
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President Gwen Ambres listens to a question from trustee Woodrow Reece during Thursday evening's school board meeting. The Beaumont Independent School District school board met Thursday night to continue budget ... more

Photo: Jake Daniels

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Protest signs sit outside the BISD school board room Thursday evening. The Beaumont Independent School District school board met Thursday night to continue budget discussions as well as review their agenda.
Photo taken Thursday 6/12/14
Jake Daniels/@JakeD_in_SETX less

Protest signs sit outside the BISD school board room Thursday evening. The Beaumont Independent School District school board met Thursday night to continue budget discussions as well as review their agenda. ... more

Photo: Jake Daniels

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Protest signs sit outside the BISD school board room Thursday evening. The Beaumont Independent School District school board met Thursday night to continue budget discussions as well as review their agenda.
Photo taken Thursday 6/12/14
Jake Daniels/@JakeD_in_SETX less

Protest signs sit outside the BISD school board room Thursday evening. The Beaumont Independent School District school board met Thursday night to continue budget discussions as well as review their agenda. ... more

Photo: Jake Daniels

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Three of the seven BISD police officers on-hand for Thursday evening's meeting stand near one of the exits of the school board room. The Beaumont Independent School District school board met Thursday night to continue budget discussions as well as review their agenda.
Photo taken Thursday 6/12/14
Jake Daniels/@JakeD_in_SETX less

Three of the seven BISD police officers on-hand for Thursday evening's meeting stand near one of the exits of the school board room. The Beaumont Independent School District school board met Thursday night to ... more

Photo: Jake Daniels

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Superintendent Dr. Timothy Chargois answers a question from Vice President Janice Brassard during Thursday evening's meeting. The Beaumont Independent School District school board met Thursday night to continue budget discussions as well as review their agenda.
Photo taken Thursday 6/12/14
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Superintendent Dr. Timothy Chargois answers a question from Vice President Janice Brassard during Thursday evening's meeting. The Beaumont Independent School District school board met Thursday night to continue ... more

Photo: Jake Daniels

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Members of the public silently wave their hands in the air as they agree with a school board member's statements during Thursday evening's meeting. The Beaumont Independent School District school board met Thursday night to continue budget discussions as well as review their agenda.
Photo taken Thursday 6/12/14
Jake Daniels/@JakeD_in_SETX less

Members of the public silently wave their hands in the air as they agree with a school board member's statements during Thursday evening's meeting. The Beaumont Independent School District school board met ... more

Photo: Jake Daniels/@JakeD_in_SETX

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President Gwen Ambres checks to make sure her microphone is functional during the beginning of Thursday evening's school board meeting. The Beaumont Independent School District school board met Thursday night to continue budget discussions as well as review their agenda.
Photo taken Thursday 6/12/14
Jake Daniels/@JakeD_in_SETX less

President Gwen Ambres checks to make sure her microphone is functional during the beginning of Thursday evening's school board meeting. The Beaumont Independent School District school board met Thursday night ... more

Photo: Jake Daniels

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Protesters hold signs at the rear of the BISD school board meeting room during Thursday's meeting. The Beaumont Independent School District school board met Thursday night to continue budget discussions as well as review their agenda.
Photo taken Thursday 6/12/14
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Protesters hold signs at the rear of the BISD school board meeting room during Thursday's meeting. The Beaumont Independent School District school board met Thursday night to continue budget discussions as well ... more

Photo: Jake Daniels

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BISD fails to follow its own budget

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Beaumont ISD faces a $25 million budget shortfall and the impending layoff of more than 200 employees because the district has not stuck to the budget the school board adopted last summer, a trustee and a consultant said Thursday night.

The school district frequently brings budget amendments before the board that have led to increased spending on what has been budgeted, said Chuck Yaple, financial consultant with WCL Enterprises, the Houston-based management firm hired by the district

BISD spent $15 million in budget this year, said trustee Mike Neil. As a result, the district is poised to lay off 231 employees, including 162 teachers and 12 assistant principals.

More than 200 students, teachers and parents attended Thursday's budget meeting, carrying their hand-made signs and indignation into the boardroom as they did Monday.

Unlike Monday, the audience remained relatively quiet and subdued throughout Thursday's meeting, resorting to silent clapping to avoid chides from board president Gwen Ambres, who threatened Monday to have disruptive people removed.

Yaple said Thursday BISD followed the law when it adopts budget amendments at almost every budget meeting because the district does not pay for services rendered before amendments are made.

That answer did not satisfy Neil. He said BISD incurs a liability every time the district procures services that are not in the budget and later seeks a budget amendment to cover the costs.

"That may be correct, but it's not right," he said to deafening cheers from the crowd, which caused Ambres to repeatedly bang her gavel to call for order.

For example, Neil said, the district budgeted $1.9 million this year for its police force but actually spent about $3.8 million.

"We're laying off hundreds of people because this administration did not stick to the budget that we gave them," he said.

At a hearing last week during which BISD appealed Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams' decision to downgrade the district's accreditation and assign it a conservator, one of the lead investigators who investigated BISD's finances said the district made thousands of budget amendments in a year's time.

Lisa Dawn-Fisher, associate commissioner of school finance at the Texas Education Agency, said BISD builds budgets that spend more than the district receives in revenue, so it must dig into its fund balance regularly instead of saving that money for emergencies or future projects.

The evidence of that, Dawn-Fisher said, is the district's recent declaration of a financial emergency and the pending layoffs of more than 200 employees.

Yaple said after the meeting it was uncommon for a district to make as many budget amendments in a year as BISD does.

Yaple said amendments are generally for emergencies or unexpected issues that arise during the year, such as the need for new air-conditioning chillers in several BISD schools this year.

The board voted to postpone a vote on proposed layoffs until next week.

Before the meeting, TEA conservator Fred Shafer directed Chargois to create a second list of proposed layoffs that only includes administrative staff, which he said would save BISD more than $2.4 million.

Chargois must add that list, which will be considered alongside the first one, to the board's June 19 meeting agenda and provide Shafer and the board with a copy 72 hours before the meeting.

Shafer said Thursday the directive came from him, not Williams, but that he communicates with the TEA before he issues an order to the district. He said it was important for BISD to closely consider every area where it could shave spending.

While he said the district would comply with any directive from the TEA, Chargois said he expected most spending cuts to come from the campus level, which accounts for 90 percent of the budget, expected to be $145 million next year.

Chargois said he thought Shafer's directive required clarification, but he did not think the district could eliminate many administrative positions since it already functions below the state average administrator-to-staff ratio. He said the district needs administrators to ensure state compliance and that paychecks are issued, he said.